Gaming Hearts
by Nicole Peach
Summary: Sora was an ordinary boy who dreamed of exploring the world outside of his island with his friends, Riku and Kairi, but when his home is destroyed, Sora must search for them among the worlds of video games, with some new friends along the way. Video game novelization of the first Kingdom Hearts game.
1. Prologue

"_I've been having these weird thoughts lately…"_

"_Like is any of this for real or not?"_

A boy was on a beach. His eyes skimmed the area in the bright sunlight. He had to find his friends.

Another boy stood in the ocean. The boy's hand reached out to get him, but he couldn't reach before the tidal wave came. They were plunged underneath the water. He reached for the boy, but the water pushed him away back onto the shore.

A girl stood above him. She laughed at him and he smiled as she watched him stand up. A look of concern formed on her face and he looked up. He watched himself fall into the water and suddenly he fell back, plunging into the water much like his replica. The girl watched him fall, but neither could reach the other. He continued the plunge into the water, into the Darkness.

Suddenly, there was light. Birds flew around him, surrounded him as they flew off the ground and into the Darkness. Below him was a stained glass platform. The glass was a deep pink with girl on it. The girl, surrounded by a heart, was a blonde in a pink dress. A small golden crown rested on her forehead, and a blue gem sat on her chest. White gloves covered her hands and lower arms.

"_So much to do, so little time…Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut."_ A voice seemed to come from nowhere. He looked around anxiously in search of a source, but as expected, he was unable to place its location.

"_Now, step forward,"_ the voice said. _"Can you do it?"_

He slowly walked towards the center of the stained glass. His eyes were wary of the new surroundings. He had no idea where he was. All he wanted was his friends. They had to be somewhere. In time with the voices phrase, three platforms arose from the glass with weapons surrounding them. _"Power sleeps within you…If you give it form…It will give you strength."_

"_Choose well."_

He examined the three weapons. The first was a silver sword. The hilt connected to it was gold with a red hand guard. On a green gem between the hand guard and the gold connecting to the blade was a red mushroom with two eyes. The second weapon was a black shield with red borders. The same mushroom rested within the center of the shield. The final weapon was a staff with a green and gold handle. On the top was another of the mushrooms. He walked over to the sword.

"_The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"_ He shook his head to the question. An ultimate power for destruction wasn't his goal at all. The sword returned to the pedestal, and he looked towards the other two. He decided to look at the shield next.

"_The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is the power you seek?"_ He nodded. His friends meant a lot to him, and a power to protect them sounded pretty good. The shield disappeared.

"_Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?"_ He looked over the final two weapons and walked over to the staff.

"_The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power." _He nodded again.

"_You've chosen the power of the guardian. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?"_ He nodded a final time. The three pedestals fell into darkness just before the stained glass shattered. He found himself on another platform. This one had another girl. The girl wore a golden dress in a similar style to the earlier blonde and dark brown hair. She too had on white gloves over her arms. The glass itself was golden, and a flower surrounded her.

"_You gained the power to fight,"_ the voice said. The shield reappeared in his hands, unfortunately, some enemies also appeared. The enemies were a pitch black with glowing yellow eyes. They had two black antennae emerging from their heads. He hit one with his shield, and it vanished in a puff of black smoke. _"All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others. There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."_ He swung the shield at another foe, and then another, bashing at them to beat each of the foes slowly and methodically beat each of the foes.

"_Behind you!"_ It was shouted in warning. He turned around and hit the enemy behind him. His shield destroyed it quickly. Afterwards, he turned back to the remaining foes until the enemies were all gone from the platform. A pool of darkness formed beneath his feet, sucking him down off the platform.

Now the platform was red. Instead of a girl, there were three silhouettes surrounded by hearts. The new platform had a door on it, but that was all. He walked towards the door and pulled on the handles. "It won't open…" he said. The voice didn't answer him. Assuming it would talk again when ready, he looked around the platform only to see a chest appear. He walked over and opened the chest to find a glowing green liquid. He picked it up and pocketed it. As there was nothing else of interest, he opened the door only for a bright light to flash.

When the light faded, he was back on his island and surrounded by three friends of his, two boys and one girl. _"Hold on the door won't open just yet. First, tell me about yourself."_

Without much of a choice, he walked over to the first of his friends, a dark skinned male with dark orange hair. "Hey Wakka," he said.

"What do you want outta life?" Wakka asked.

"Huh?"

"What do you want outta life," Wakka repeated. The boy acted as though he'd never spoke.

"To broaden my horizons…I guess…" he said.

"To broaden your horizons, huh?" Wakka asked.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked. He received no further response. He walked over to the lone female of the group, a girl with light brown hair and green eyes.

"What's most important to you?" the girl asked.

"Oh no! Not you too!" he said in shock.

"What's most important to you?" she repeated.

After a moment, he decided on his answer, "Friendship."

"Is friendship really such a big deal?" Assuming she wouldn't answer further, much like Wakka, he walked to the final boy, a blonde with blue eyes.

"What are you afraid of?" the boy asked.

"Being indecisive," he answered.

"Being indecisive? Is that really so scary?" the boy asked.

"_You want to broaden your horizons. You value your friendship. You're afraid of being indecisive,"_ the voice quickly recapped his earlier decisions. _"Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won't be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey's end."_

"Sounds good," he said. He had to wonder if the journey going to be that hard in the future. He could still only wonder what the voice was talking about.

"_The day you will open the door is both far off and very near…"_

The islands around him vanished. He was now on a new platform, one with a picture of a girl in a light blue dress this time. The girl had pale blonde hair going over one eye and a rod with a star in her hand. A silver crown rested on top of her head and a little star creature was nearby her, appearing to bounce around with glee. More of the enemies appeared. He summoned his shield once more and began bashing them in as quickly as possible. One after the other, the creatures fell to his shield until none remained. A set of stained glass stairs appeared. He walked up them, one by one, each step vanishing as he moved forward.

The stairs lead to another stained glass platform. This one was a light purple with the image of two girls. The first had long pink hair and brown eyes. The girl wore a brown fuzzy vest that cut off around her green tank top and shorts. The second had short brown hair and glasses. She wore a green top and black skirt. In both of their hands was a black cat plushie. _"The closer you get to the light the greater your shadow becomes."_

He turned around at what the voice said. His shadow was huge, which he assumed to mean he was close to the end of the journey. The shadow rose seconds later. It was alive, thoroughly startling him. It wasn't long before it grew even larger, now a large black creature of some form. The creature had two giant fists and feet and a mass of tangle on its head that could be deemed hair. In the chest cavity of the creature was a large heart shaped hole. "Wh-what?" He tried to run away from the large shadow to the stair case, but it was gone, just a large black chasm remained.

"_But don't be afraid. And don't forget…"_ He had no choice. He turned to face the large monster. His shield hit the creature's hand. It hardly seemed to notice the damage. The monster punched the ground where he stood and summoned a pool of darkness where two of the earlier enemies emerged from the ground. He bashed the creature's hand on the ground as well as the two little enemies. Its hand emerged from the ground, and it began to fire dark sphere like projectiles at the boy. He blocked the projectiles with his shield, but some hit him and some bounced off. The ones that bounced off hit the monster in the head and seemed to deal more damage to it. He made note of its weak point before beginning to hit the creature once more on its hands as it punched the ground, this time creating a shock wave that he had to jump over to take out. As he went to hit it with his shield once more, the weapon vanished. He tried to call it back to his hands, but with no luck. The creature punched the floor once more, generating the pool of darkness.

This time, he was unable to escape. The tendrils of darkness managed to start dragging his body down. He panicked, wildly flailing to escape. _"But don't be afraid."_ He couldn't help his panic. The voice wasn't the one drowning in darkness.

"_You hold the mightiest weapon of all."_ He didn't understand. Was the voice talking about something else or the shield? If his "mightiest weapon" vanished and appeared whenever it chose, it would be a rough battle, just as the voice predicted. His head was covered by the darkness now, drowning out all his vision quickly.

"_So don't forget: You are the one who will open the door." _


	2. Chapter 1: Lazy Days

Deep among the ocean was a small group islands. The first and largest of these islands was a town where many worked and ran. The second island was a playground for many of the kids ran around on the sandy beach. The third island was small, and only held a single palm tree with a yellow star shaped fruit. It is on this second island, a boy slept, his sleep disturbed by strange dreams.

The boy woke up not moments later. He yawned as he briefly opened his blue eyes. He laid down seconds later, his brown, spiky, hair hitting the floor with a plan to fall back asleep and closed his eyes, relaxing on the beach. When he opened his eyes, a girl stood above him. The girl had dark red hair and purple eyes. The boy pushed himself off the ground in shock, narrowly avoiding her head. "Woah!" The girl laughed. "Give me a break Kairi!"

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing down here," she said. A smile lit up her face as she watched him gather his thoughts for a moment.

"No! This huge black thing swallowed me up!" he said, his voice was panicked as he remembered the suffocating feeling of being drowned in the Darkness after he lost to the strange shadowy monster. "I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-Ow!" He stopped as Kairi flicked him lightly in the head to get his attention.

"Are you still dreaming?"

"It wasn't a dream! Or was it?" Sora sighed. The more he thought about it, the less real it seemed. "I don't know…what was that place? So bizarre."

She laughed, instantly dismissing his strange dream as just that. "Yeah sure."

"Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like?" Sora asked. "You know, where you grew up."

"I've told you before, I don't remember." Kairi was a bit unusual in terms of the residents of the islands, as she wasn't born there nor did she remember where she was from. When she was younger, a lot of the kids were interested in the mystery, but as they got older, she became more of an accepted part of the island and with the exception of a few close friends, not very many people remained interested in this mystery town she once lived in.

"Nothing at all?" He hoped asking her again might prompt a memory. Whether she would ever admit to it or not, Sora could tell Kairi was slightly bothered by the fact that she knew nothing of who she was before the islands, especially about her birth family.

"Nothing," she said.

"You ever want to go back?" Sora asked.

Kairi seemed to pause for a moment before answering. "Well, I'm happy here."

"Really…" He was disappointed. Helping Kairi find her home was one of the excuses they told their parents for their great adventure they were planning. If Kairi had no interest, he doubted he'd be able to get away with it forever.

"But you know…I wouldn't mind going to see it," she said as though she sensed his disappointment. He perked up.

"I'd like to see it too," Sora said. "Along with any other worlds out there! I'd like to see 'em all!"

"So what are we waiting for?" she asked. It was definitely a journey they were both excited for.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about me?" A boy walked up to the two, this one with silver hair. His light blue eyes were amused even though his voice feigned hurt. He walked by and tossed the log at Sora, knocking him back to the ground. "And you're just as lazy as he is." He pointed to Kairi.

She giggled. "So you noticed. Okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!"

"Huh?" Sora looked at her in confusion.

"What, are you kidding?" the other boy asked.

"Ready! Go!" she shouted and the boys both leapt up at her call. Their longer legs allowed them to cover the distance faster, but it still wasn't all that long until they arrived at the other side of the island where a bunch of logs sat. The boy went over to the logs while Sora stood in front of Kairi.

"So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?" Kairi asked. She noticed Sora's lack of response and snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Huh, what?" he looked at Kairi in surprise. She sighed.

"Sora, were you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, I heard you," he said.

"Okay, here's what you need to find: two logs, one cloth, and one rope," she listed each other materials off one by one. "Bring everything back here. If you need any help, just ask. I'm counting on you."

"Okay, see you Kairi." Sora ran off from the shack and started walking towards the cove area of the island.

"Hey Sora!" a girl with light brown hair in a yellow dress walked up to him.

"Hey Selphie, what's going on?" he asked.

"Not a lot. Hey, wanna spar?" Selphie asked.

"Can't, I've gotta find supplies for the raft, Kairi's orders." He smiled.

"Aw, your no fun," Selphie pouted, "but okay. If you need any rope, I think Tidus has some up in the tree house."

"See you Selph!" He continued on his way up a ladder and into a wooden platform. A blond boy was there practicing with a wooden sword.

"Hey Sora! Bet you can't beat me this time!" the boy said as he noticed Sora's entry.

"Kairi sent me looking for supplies, and I was told some rope would be here," Sora said.

"I do have some! Tell you what, beat me and I'll give it to you!" the boy, presumably Tidus, said.

"You're on!" Sora jumped down the ladder and onto the ground, followed by the boy and they walked onto the sand of the beach. Off to the side, Selphie, another boy, and the silver haired boy stood watching the battle.

Tidus started off by slashing at Sora with a wooden sword. Sora lifted up his own in defense before knocking Tidus back and using a quick strike of his own to knock him back further. Tidus charged at him again, but rather than hitting him he ran past him to behind Sora, where he hit him with the sword. Sora turned around with his own sword and once more gave a quick slash and hit Tidus again. He threw the sword a final time, knocking Tidus off his feet and onto the ground.

_The sword is definitely better than the shield,_ Sora thought as he offered his hand to Tidus. Tidus grabbed his hand and smiled.

"Thought I'd get you this time, here's your rope." Tidus climbed up back into the tree house after handing Sora the rope.

He looked around the island for a couple more minutes before walking over to the other side where a couple of logs were strangely lying around. He walked over to the shore and picked up a piece of cloth with hope it was big enough for what Kairi wanted.

"Hey Sora!" the silver haired boy called him from the smallest island, leaning back against a palm tree.

"Riku!" Sora waved and ran over quickly. "What are you doing?"

"I finished most of the raft, so I figured I'd take a break," he said. "Since you appear to be done, I figured you could use the challenge."

"I'll win this time!" Sora and Riku had been competing against each other for as long as they'd known each other, and they were always rivals. Sora was currently three down to Riku's wins.

"We'll see." Riku picked up a wooden sword from the ground before getting off the Paopu tree. He lifted up his sword so it was raised above his head and charged. Unlike with Tidus, Sora barely had enough time to life his sword up to guard against the attack. He found himself pushed back several inches before Riku finally relented in the strike, giving Sora time to retaliate. Riku blocked his strike with a move that had very little effort and pushed back on Sora. Sora ran up again, this time managing to hit Riku.

Riku wasn't even knocked off balance however, as he lunged at Sora, unconcerned with the strike that had just hit him. Sora lifted up his sword again, however was pushed back even further near the edge of the island. Sora rolled out of the way of another strike that was aimed at him, causing Riku to nearly fall in the water.

"Nice trick," Riku said with a smile. Sora hadn't meant to trick him, but smiled back considering it meant he had a chance. He charged against Riku one last time, this strike actually putting him in the ocean. "Okay! I surrender!" Although his tone remained cheerful, his eyes darkened.

"Yeah! I win!" Sora cheered.

"Good job Sora!" Somewhere in the middle of the fight, Kairi had walked over to them to watch. "Did you finish gathering supplies like I asked?"

"Yup!" Sora pulled out each of the items.

"Thanks Sora! We'll finish up the raft tomorrow," she said and looked to Riku. "You did good too Riku."

"He only got lucky," Riku said before leaning back against the tree. Kairi's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, but she didn't comment.

"Well, since we found everything and we don't have to go back until dark, we should watch the sunset here tonight!" Kairi jumped onto the tree.

"Sounds great," Sora said before jumping onto the tree as well.

"Are you two going to actually help with construction tomorrow or am I going to be left alone to do that too?" Riku asked.

"We'll help!"

"Yeah, we all want to see the other worlds, especially Kairi's!" Sora said before looking at Riku and Kairi. "Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

"Could be, we'll never know by staying here," Riku said.

"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora asked.

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else," Riku said.

"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi asked. Her answer was obvious, at least to Sora, she had to find her lost family and learn about her home world. He wanted to explore everywhere, but that never really explained why Riku wanted to go.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it," Riku said. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?

Sora lay down on the tree. "I don't know."

"That's why we need to go out there!" Riku's voice grew determined. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff! So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot, haven't you?" Kairi asked. She seemed almost saddened by Riku's statement.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of this," he said and smiled at her. "Kairi, thanks."

"You're welcome," she said. "It's going to be dark soon. We should head back."

"I guess…" Sora said. Kairi jumped off the tree first to head back to the docks. Sora went to follow her example, but was stopped by Riku.

"Sora," he said. A star shaped yellow fruit was tossed in his direction. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

"A paopu fruit…" he looked at it in confusion.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll be a part of each other's lives no matter what." Riku repeated the legend that was famous among the islanders about the star shaped fruit. "C'mon, I know you want to try it."

"What are you talking-" Sora stopped as Riku walked by and laughed. He looked at the fruit for another moment, briefly thinking of Kairi before tossing it away. It was possible he had feelings for Kairi that went beyond friendship, but he hadn't actually thought of sharing the paopu fruit with her before.

-x-

In another world different than the one our protagonist lives on, a man wearing green with overalls was walking back to his house after a successful trip to the nearby town. "Big bro! I'm back!" The man shouted. "Still no news on the missing princesses, but-" he paused as on the table was a note addressed to Luigi. He picked up the note. "Off on some adventure without me aga-" he stopped as he read the contents before panicking.

"Princess! Princess!" He ran through the streets of the nearby town. He didn't pay attention to any of the mushroom residents and ran straight up to the castle at the head. As though by habit, he ran straight into the throne room.

"Luigi?" A woman dressed in pink stood up from her throne. Her blue eyes shone with worry over the man.

"Princess! It's horrible! Mario's gone!" Luigi said.

"Does that mean he found out where Daisy and Rosalina disappeared off to?" the princess asked.

"No I mean he's gone as in left the Mushroom Kingdom!" Luigi explained and handed her the letter. "Come on, we've got to go before-"

"Gwar har har! Mario, missing? I can't believe my luck that I chose today to capture Princess Peach!" A giant turtle entered the room through the front.

"No way! Just cause my bro isn't around doesn't mean you can capture the princess!" Luigi jumped in front of her.

"Hang on Luigi, Bowser might be able to help us," Peach said. "You will help us, especially since I plan on going to find Mario."

"Why would I help with that?" Bowser growled at her.

"Because the mission Mario left for will require your help and mine," Peach said. "Otherwise none of us could be around for much longer."

"But-"

"At least hear us out, please, for me?" Peach asked.

"Fine, but only because you asked," Bowser grumbled and sat on the floor of the throne room to listen to what the princess had to say.


	3. Chapter 2: A Mysterious Visitor

"Finally, done!" Sora fell back on the ground as they attached the last of the logs to the raft.

"It looks pretty good," Riku said as he admired their work on the raft.

"Now all that's left is to name it," Kairi said with a smile. "I'd like to name it Starlight!"

"Aw, come on Kairi! You're in charge of the building process and barely did any work! We should get to name it," Sora said and pouted. Kairi relented.

"Alright, fine, what do you want to name it then?" she asked.

"I was thinking Highwind, what about you Sora?" Riku asked.

"Hmm," Sora thought for a moment before an idea popped into his head. "Kingdom Key." _Where did that come from?_

"I like mine better," Riku said.

"Mine's better!" Sora frowned.

"We'll race for it then," Riku said.

"I'll referee," Kairi said and stood off to the side. "First one to navigate the obstacle course, touch the star, and make it back here wins."

"If I win, I get to be captain," Sora said. "And if you win…"

"I get to share a paopu with Kairi," Riku said.

Sora stared at him in confusion as though the words didn't process. "Huh?"

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," Riku said.

"Wha… Wait a minute…" Sora could only stare at Riku in shock. He couldn't lose this race now if he ever wanted to share one with Kairi. He then looked over to Kairi. If she heard the conversation, she had chosen to ignore it.

"Okay, on my count: 3…2…1…Go!" she shouted. Sora and Riku bolted off immediately. Sora hit the first platform with a slight lead. He jumped across each one until he arrived at a small rock ledge, where a zip line reached down to the other side. His hand grasped the zip line and he looked behind him at Riku, who had just arrived at the top of the rock. He quickly threw it back (it wouldn't be fair if he had an advantage Riku didn't) before touching the tree and sprinting back along the beach to wear Kairi stood. He arrived, triumphant, out of breath, captain of the newly named Kingdom Key, and ready to share the paopu that he hadn't really thought about sharing.

"Sora wins!" Kairi shouted just as Riku walked up. He was only one down now. Their next match would be the one that would make them even.

"Good job," Riku said. "I was just joking by the way, you didn't have to freak out like that."

"Well whatever you were joking about, quit it, because we need to collect provisions for the trip!" Kairi said. "Riku, I want you to find sea gull eggs, coconuts, and fish. Sora, you need to get us some fresh water and mushrooms." She handed Sora an empty jar.

"How much?" Riku asked.

"However many you two think we'll need to survive until we hit the first world," Kairi said. "Now go!"

"Okay," Sora walked away from Kairi and off toward the cliff side of the island where a small waterfall ran off. He pulled out the jar and ran it underneath the waterfall so as to collect the fresh water they would need. Nearby was a small cave. Remembering the fact that mushrooms tended to grow in the dark, he entered the cave to find the cavern that lay behind.

"Oh yeah!" he said," the Secret Place." He began walking around the cave and looking at all the drawings. In the corner, by where he found some mushrooms, he locked eyes on the picture.

"_Come on Sora, I'll draw you and you draw me! Okay?"_

"_But I can't draw Kairi!"_

"_I can't either, but it'll still be fun."_

He picked up a stone, long forgotten in the corner as they had stopped carving pictures in the cave long ago, and carved an arm next to his face. The arm reached out toward the Kairi face and offered her a star to represent the paopu fruit. He smiled at it, maybe he did want to share one with Kairi after all. He heard footsteps.

"Wh-Who's there?" He turned around to see a brown cloaked figure.

"I've come to see the door to this world," the figure said.

"Huh?"

"This world has been connected."

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Sora asked again.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed." The figure continued to ignore Sora and his questions.

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this," Sora said. To him, it sounded like the figure was saying that his home, the islands, were about to be destroyed. He didn't want that. "Huh? Wh-Where did you come from?"

"You do not yet know what lies behind this door."

"So, you're from another world?" Sora asked. He felt an edge of excitement creep into his voice. Even though he was being warned his home was being destroyed, this person might know the fate of Kairi's homeworld.

"There is so much to learn. You understand so little."

"Oh yeah?" Sora gaped at the figure. "Well, you'll see! I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there."

"A meaningless effort," the figure said. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." The figure vanished, leaving Sora confused.

"What just happened?" he asked aloud. This definitely added onto the weirdness of the past couple of days, so he simply left the cave with the mushrooms in hand and went back to the other side of the island where Kairi stood waiting. She was moving string through shells while she stood.

"Hey Kairi, what's that?" Sora asked. He looked at the charm with curiosity. She jumped in surprise.

"Oh, this? I'm working on a necklace made of thalassa shells. In the old days sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure safe voyage," she said. Her face had turned slightly red as though she hadn't wanted Sora to see it.

"I think that's pretty awesome!" Sora said with a smile. "Anyways, I got the last of the stuff."

"Really, that's great!" Kairi smiled. "Riku finished up his collecting and went home already, so do you want to watch the sunset, just the two of us?"

Now it was Sora's turn to blush. "Uh…sure!"

"Okay, just give me a few minutes to gather up the last of the shells I'll need for my necklace and we can go to the docks to watch it!" Kairi ran towards the shore of the beach while Sora went to the dock. He watched her sit down, deep in concentration, and pick up a couple more shells to thread onto the charm. When she was finished, she walked over to Sora and sat down next to him.

"So you've finished?" Sora asked.

"Not quite yet, but it's close enough where I'll have it finished by tomorrow," she said. They sat in silence for a while. He noticed the unhappy look on her face and sighed.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" he asked. Was it possible she'd heard his earlier conversation with Riku or the cloaked figure and it was bothering her?

"You know, Riku has changed," she said slowly. It was like she was trying to pick just the right words so that way Sora wouldn't be upset.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well…" she started, but couldn't seem to figure out what she wanted to say.

"You okay?"

"Sora, let's take the raft and go- just the two of us." This was drastically out of character for Kairi. It just didn't make sense that she wouldn't want Riku to join them.

"Huh?" He stared at her in shock.

"Just kidding," she laughed, and he started to laugh as well.

"What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi," he said. She stood up and his gaze followed her movement.

"Maybe…you know, I was a little afraid to go at first, but now I'm ready," she said. Sora looked at her in surprise. She'd never seemed to not want to go or seemed scared. The fact that she had been made him slightly worried. "No matter where I go or what I see, I can always come back here. Right?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, of course!" his voice sounded slightly too excited, even for who he was. Maybe the cloaked figure from earlier was just making him nervous.

"That's good, Sora. Don't ever change," she said.

"Huh?"

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."

-x-

"To Luigi,

Sorry I left, but I heard rumors about what might have happened to Daisy and Rosalina. I heard they were kidnapped by a madman who wants to destroy the worlds. I don't know much about him yet, but I'm going to find out. Let Peach know that I'm gone and apologize that I didn't tell her where I would be going, but I have to take this chance now. I'll send more word when I find out, but in the meantime, keep her safe and get word out to Bowser, he might be able to help us out.

Your bro, Mario," Luigi read the letter to Bowser as quickly as possible.

"See Bowser, that's why you have to help," Peach said.

"But…I don't wanna help!" Bowser complained. "There's no way I'll ever help out Mario."

"But Bowser, if you don't there won't be any place left where you can rule and I'll be gone," Peach said.

"No!" Bowser insisted.

"Come on, you'll get to spend more time with the princess if you do," Luigi said to bribe the Koopa King.

"What?" Bowser glanced at Peach and growled. "Alright, but just so I can spend more time with Peach."

"Good, now we need to-"

"Excuse me…I'm looking for a Princess Peach, Luigi, and King Bowser," a small rainbow butterfly flew into the room in front of the three.

"That would be us," Luigi said.

"Excellent. My name is Tippi, and Mario sent me," Tippi said.

"What did he say?" Peach asked.

"You three are supposed to head to a world called Traverse Town to look for a key," Tippi said. "He will be the one to fulfill the prophecy within the Light Prognosticus. A man called Leon is supposed to be able to help."

"Back up, what's going on?" Peach asked.

"Mario came to visit Merlon in search of advice. Mario then proceeded to ask Merlon about what's happening, who then lent him me after supplying the answers to help you three and the key," Tippi said. "I'm a Pixl, one of few fairy like creatures with unique abilities, in my case, I know everything about everything."

"So what's this Light Pragmatics thingy then?" Bowser asked.

"It's Prognosticus, but I digress," Tippi said. "It's an ancient book of prophecies that was created to prevent the prophecies its sister book predicts from occurring. The Dark Prognosticus predicts the end of the universe many times over. Unfortunately the light one is very vague, so we don't know who this key is and anything about the threats to the worlds besides their name, the Heartless."

Peach looked at Tippi for a moment in thought. "So you'll be coming with us Miss Tippi?"

"Until the worlds are safe, yes, then I'll be returning back to Merlon," Tippi said. "I'll be chronicling everything that happens along our journey for the future as well. It was Merlon's idea."

"Then come on, let's go to the Toad brigade's ship already and get going!" Luigi said.

"I'll call Captain Toad, it should be ready in about ten minutes," Peach said.


End file.
